Its taken longer than i would have liked but i have finally had the opportunity to get the new 8'2" in the water....

The design and shape have not changed, Lets make that clear. The differance in the current line up is the ADDITION of a size variant.
Up until this year the 8'2 was only available in the 125L version at 30" wide.
As some would know already, I love this board and see clearly the versatility of this shape however found it difficult last year as i felt the 8'2" @125L was to big. With the over all outline and width in the tail i felt the 8'2 was just a little to big and felt -

- Stability was to sharp
- Tail was to wide
- To much volume in the tail
- To much volume in the rail

These are my opinion only and by no means represent the feed back and opinion of others. I typically prefer to ride a longer board with a sharper outline much more like a traditional short board. As with all the Infinity range, Pick the size you think you want and go one smaller...

The addition of the 8'2" x 29 @ 115L has solved this Delmar for me. Although the basic design is the same the new 8'2" has been refined. The board still produces excellent stability and paddle speed but feels a lot more positive in its on wave response. The volume reduction has been made in exactly the right spots. The tail has been drawn in slightly and the rail has been thinned just enough to increase engagement.

I rode the board for the first time on the weekend on the Gold Coast in testing conditions. Although the swell was to all there it was ridden on a open beach bank with plenty of tide and an uncomfortable amount of wind. Despite the choppy conditions i had no issue with the paddle speed of the board (even into the wind) and had no dramas with its stability or directional ability in the chop.

The board paddled on to the wave with little effort considering its size and had no issues engaging at any time whilst on the wave. To date i have found that the board actually performs best running a 5 Fin set up (quad set + mini keel). I have run all the size variants of this model with a large amount of fin configurations and sizes and have broken it down to this -

Thruster:
Provides good drive, Directional paddle ability and on wave stability but tends to bog the board down a little bit slowing the boards response down. I would only run the thruster in larger conditions where the need for powerful drive off the bottom and rail stability down the line out weigh the need for speed.

Quad:
Quick response and extremely fast, This configuration works really well on the smaller mushier days when you just want to throw the tail around and want as much speed as possible to dart around and over crumbling sections.

4+1:
Good drive, good response and maintains its speed. This has been the most effective in all conditions giving the board the best of both worlds. It just seems that the mini keel locks the tail down enough to effectively drive like a thruster without washing any speed off and allows you to still throw the tail out and race the sections like a quad with added stability.

I hope this helps and makes sense. If you have any questions i more than happy to answer them as will any of the Infinity dealers. To answer the question that some will automatically ask....

Yes i am a retailer for Infinity however this is not a sales pitch nor am i expecting to see any financial benefit from this review. I simply post this as i am in a unique position that allows me to ride a huge variety of boards giving me the ability to offer my professional and somewhat educated (educated being extremely debatable) opinion of products to give everyone a better idea of what else is available that may suite them. Now, get into my store and buy my stuff..... everyone else's is crap and every other brand is inferior....
Just kidding, every brand has its pros and cons and every brand presents options to people that will work better for individuals over someone else's. This gives us the power of choice and allows us to find the product that best suites our personal preferences. Meaning we all get the most out of our equipment.

Thanks for your time and if you read this far your a good person hahahaha

Stay stoked
Trav

Hey Salty,

What is your weight if you don't mind and what size waves are you riding with this board.

thanks

Trav,
Are they bringing in the pvc version to Aus?

I saw that this morning and it looks good, wonder what the price?

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ninjatuna said..
Hey Salty,

What is your weight if you don't mind and what size waves are you riding with this board.

thanks

Hey mate, im 90kg and have ridden in anything from 1-2 to 4-6. Anything over 6 and id be looking to run the BLine in the 8'2" with much less volume.

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Hoppo3228 said..
Trav,
Are they bringing in the pvc version to Aus?

Hey Hoppo
There are PVC variants available. Would have to double check availability for you but. PM me with what your after and i will chase it up.

thanks salty culture, I am a couple of kilos under you but my waves seem like they are softer here in Florida. I saw infinity had the 8'2 x 30 in the PVC variant and it is now on the way to my house.

Nice review, I do wish we had an Infinity dealer here in the U.K.

Have a chat eh..

I had the opportunity to demo a friend's custom RNB 8'1x29x100L recently which seemed to be the right amount of volume for my 85kgs so I would agree that the new 8'2x29 is probably a much better size for many. First impressions from my quick surf is that Dave did a really nice job with the RNB--a tomoesque board that allows folks to surf a smaller board but also have more performance with a more pulled in nose and tail and a bit more rocker than other tomo-style boards. Could make a nice one-board quiver for someone.

Quick question, SaltyCulture--have you had the chance to surf the 7'11x28x98L more and do you have updated thoughts from when you posted on it last? My friend's 8'1 was so stable, in the production line I feel like perhaps the 7'11 may be a better sized board at least volume wise than the 8'2 depending on a person's weight.

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805StandUp said..
I had the opportunity to demo a friend's custom RNB 8'1x29x100L recently which seemed to be the right amount of volume for my 85kgs so I would agree that the new 8'2x29 is probably a much better size for many. First impressions from my quick surf is that Dave did a really nice job with the RNB--a tomoesque board that allows folks to surf a smaller board but also have more performance with a more pulled in nose and tail and a bit more rocker than other tomo-style boards. Could make a nice one-board quiver for someone.

Quick question, SaltyCulture--have you had the chance to surf the 7'11x28x98L more and do you have updated thoughts from when you posted on it last? My friend's 8'1 was so stable, in the production line I feel like perhaps the 7'11 may be a better sized board at least volume wise than the 8'2 depending on a person's weight.

805StandUp

I have ridden the 7'11" quite a few more times since the last post and if i could just drop 10kg it would defiantly be my go to board.
We recently did the trip to Indo and i took an 8'5" BLine mainly thinking about the bigger points and potential choppy conditions however found that we spent little time on the points. This being said, The 7'11" RNB would have been perfect for the fast sucky Beaches.

At 90kg i am still quite comfortable on the 7'11" considering its volume but with no ACL's left in the knees i just find it a little hard after a short period of time. The 7'11" is the magic number in the RNB range as it delivers unrivalled stability for volume making it just as stable as many bigger boards yet it surfs like a lot smaller board.

If i was to recommend a weight range for the 7'11" (as an every day board) I would have to say 75 - 85 would be the optimal weight. This would give you comfort to paddle in almost anything while still delivering optimal performance. Anything below 75kg and i would fear that there may be a little to much volume and over 85kg you are possibly limiting yourself to the cleaner days which detracts from the RNB's versatility.

This is only my opinion and i am lucky enough to have access to both models on any given day. If i had to purchase 1 board in the range that i would ride every day, @90kg I would pick the new 8'2" just to be comfortable.

Hope this helps
Stay stoked
Trav